Stan Ibeabuchi Interview: Brother Ike Ibeabuchi Released, Being Held By ICE in Arizona
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
*Photo Credit: Red Cheetah News
In a Real Combat Media exclusive interview conducted over Facebook Messenger, Stan Ibeabuchi, brother of former number one heavyweight contender Ike Ibeabuchi, announced his brother Ike Ibeabuchi was released from the Arizona penal system on September 23, 2020, and was transferred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Center (ICE) in Eloy, Arizona.
Robert Brizel: “Stan, what can you tell me about your brother, Ike Ibeabuchi?”
Stan Ibeabuchi: “My brother’s case was handled unjustly, and he was never given a fair chance to defend himself. He spent a lot of time for a crime he did not commit, and spent more than 20 years in prison. That is an injustice. What a think happened is an action against him, just to make sure Ike didn’t achieve his dream of becoming heavyweight champion of the world. In regards to his so-called probation violation, why would a detianee spend more than two years in detention without being sentenced. This is someone arrested since 2016, and four years behind bars for a probation violation he knew nothing about. He did not know what was required of him (nobody informed him). They should have given my brother Ike a fair hearing and a fair judgment, and not left him behind bars for four years. To me, that is injustice, and all this to end with a career in boxing completely destroyed, wich he might have achieved (greatness).”
Robert Brizel: “Stan, do you think his boxing promoter Cedric Kushner orchestrated Ike’s downfall?”
Stan Ibeabuchi:” Yes, that’s exactly what happened. Kushner set him up. At that time, Ike’s contract with him had expired, and Kushner insisted Ike renew the contract with him. That was when Kushner went against Ike, and set him up.”
Robert Brizel: “Do you think Kushner would have stolen the rest of Ike’s money, if not Ike’s mother had transferred it to a Nigerian power of attorney to deny Kushner access to it, after ike got arrested?’
Stan Ibeabuchi: “Yeah, I think so, he would have done so.”
Robert Brizel: “Kushenr subsequently lost his money and boxing prestige, went into a mental and physical decline, and passed away. By that time, Ike was long forgotten. Do you think Ike still hates Kushner?”
Stan Ibeabuchi: “For someone who orchestrated his downfall, he should hate him for all he did.”
Robert Brizel: “Ike’s Nevada conviction was overturned in the Nevada State supreme Court twice, but not recognized by the lower courts. When Ike gets out, do you think he will continue to pursue justice to clear his name?”
Stan Ibeabuchi: “Yes, I think so, I think that what he ought to do, to clear his name, as the (Nevada) Supreme Court has already cleared him.”
Robert Brizel: “Ike was suing the Nigerian power-of-attorney in Arizona to reclaim what Ike calls his missing funds is trust. The attorney was in lawsuit himself over interest denied to the old Wells Fargo accounts of Ibeabuchi, when the funds were transferred from one bank to another due to the sale of the bank’s assets. Do you think Ike will restart a new lawsuit to regain control over his money?”
Stan Ibeabuchi: “When he gets out, he needs to meet with the lawyer to find of the status of his lawsuit involving his assets with Wells Fargo Bank. The lawyer should have resolved the issue by now, as it has been more than four years. It has been a long time, four years, four good years, the whole thing should have been resolved by now. When Ike gets out of the immigration detention center, the attorney (supervising Ike’s assets) should hand over Ike’s assets.”
Robert Brizel: “Do you honestly believe Ike will step back into the ring again for whatever reason?”
Stan Ibeabuchi: “I cannot determine what my brother will do with his life when he gets out of detention. Being someone who was determined to become the heavyweight champion of the world, I don’t see him with any barrier. I don’t see as someone who can easily give up his aspirations. I have known him as someone who is determined and strong-willed, a go getter.”
Robert Brizel: “Does Ike still have many brothers and sisters in Nigeria and around the world? What is his family situation?
Stan Ibeabuchi: “Yeah he does, he has a large family. He has brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins.”
Robert Brizel: “Ike’s mother Patricia Ibeabuchi, a nurse in theu United States, now deceased, put out an internet page for help more than 20 years ago, stating Ike was set up.”
She stated (her comments have been edited for grammar and the passage of time for purposes of clarity) “The discrimination, hate, abuse and violation of human rights my son and I are face in this country are wrong, because we do not know what caused it. How did it start? In the United States of America, we came to seek our American dreams. In our home country (Nigeria), we treat everybody with love, and help them when necessary. In my country, Nigeria, people go to jail when they commit serious crimes, not accusations with no proof of evidence, or because of race, appearance, color, country of origin, and career as in Ike’s case. Muhammad Ali was out of boxing for three years for avoiding the military draft (until the United States Supreme Court reinstated his boxing license). Mike Tyson was convicted (of worse offenses than Ike), and was out in three years.
My son Ike was ranked at the top as a professional heavyweight boxer. Ike started boxing in Nigeria around age 18 and continued his amateur career after moving to the United States, winning city and state golden gloves tournaments in Dallas, Texas, and continued with his professional career (20-0 as a heavyweight).
When Ike began to show impressive promise in his boxing career as one of the world’s most promising heavyweight (prospects), a brother in our church, Jack, felt compelled to suggest I quit my nursing job to stay by Ike’s side. He said this (is the best idea for Ike) because boxing has a reputation for being corrupt, manipulative and very shady in its dealings. such as bribery, drugs and false accusations. It is a pretty well-known fact many boxing managers and promoters involve themselves in these behaviors, and sometimes resort to using negative tactics to obtain what they want (contractual control over the fighter).
In June of 1999, Ike and I attended the annual Nigerian cultural festival in New Jersey. The President of the Association invited Ike and the local mayor of the city to attend as honored guests. After the festival, Ike learned there was a big heavyweight fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Upon learning of this, Ike decided to fly to Las Vegas to watch the fight, and speak with representatives of HBO concerning his own boxing career.
At this time, Cedric Kushner was hounding Ike to renew his contract with him. Ike informed Cedric he needed to shop around to have better understanding of what his worth is, and if he matched it, he would resign with him. Cedric was not happy about this, because he knew he had been underpaying Ike.
Other promoters and managers were highly interested in Ike due to his promising boxing career. Managers and promoters don’t want boxers to negotiate deals, they want to be the one to do all the negotiations so that their underhanded deals will not be known by any other than themselves.
Because of the shady promoters and their methods, we had to leave Dallas, Texas, and moved to Arizona to seek refuge from them. Unfortunately, they followed us to Arizona, and the nightmare continued. They tapped our phones, forced themselves inside our Gilbert home, put chemicals in all of our food and drinks, and disengaged our house alarm, and entered our home at anytime day or night to get Ike to sign a new contract with Kushner.
The Gilbert police have several records of our calls and reports concerning this matter. These promoters went so far as to fly and bring false charges against Ike in Gilbert and Scottsdale, while he lives with me in the same house, by paying a couple of women to accuse Ike of attempted kidnapping and sexual assault. The local Arizona police investigated these charges, and threw them out, because there was no basis for the charges against him. Since the boxing estalbishment controlling Ike did not achieve their aim to ruin Ike here, they followed Ike when he traveled to Las Vegas, and repeated the same setup charges they attempted before, which put Ike in jail in Las Vegas. The charges were sexual assault, kidnapping and attempting to kill, to intensify the charges against him, make them stick, and ruin him.
At this time of Ike’s false imprisonment, Ike had medications forced on him, was accused (but not found to be) mentally insane. and was not given adequate legal representation. Ike lost his young life, being tried and convicted of something he did not do. Ike was intimidated, drugged, and under the effects of the drugs, dragged into the court to plead guilty by the Las Vegas public defender for alleged criminal offenses he did not commit. The judge knew about the drugs Ike was given before court hearing because Ike told the judge that he was on forced medication, and he could not reason properly but the judge ignored him. My son sat mercilessly in prison at the prime of his life, wasting away. What did he do? (to get convicted? In reality, Nothing).”
Robert Brizel: So, what effect does Ike’s late mother Patricia play on Ike’s rebirth, if he has one as an athlete? She left behind some strong words about Ike’s dreams and mistreatment by the boxing establishment. Do you think she will inspire him to return to the ring, and or turn to his life around in a more positive direction?”
Stan Ibeabuchi: “According to her, she did not want him to fight again, because the boxing world was corrupt. If Ike can find people he can trust, he can launch his career again.”
Noted heavyweight number one contender Ibeabuchi, 20-0 with 15 knockouts, age 47, Gilbert, Arizona, by way of Lagos, Nigeria, nicknamed ‘Mr. President’, had his Nevada conviction overturned twice in the Nevada Supreme Court, though it was not recognized by the lower Nevada courts. Ibeabuchi continued to fight to clear his name in the Nevada courts after being released, and worked hard to straghten out his immigration issues with ICE.
However. Ibeabuchi was picked up on an old warrant for violating the terms of a previous first conviction in Arizona he was unaware of after he was released from the second conviction in Nevada. Ibeabuchi also had a lawsuit going on in Arizona to recover assets from his boxing career dating from his time fighting under the late boxing promoter Cedric Kushner. Ike’s late mother transferred his assets to a Nigerian attorney serving as power of attorney after Ike’s second arrest, where according to Ibeabuchi his bank account assets remain inaccessible due to legal actions between the attorney and Wells Fargo Bank.
Ibeabuchi had green card and citizenship maneuvers in progress in Gilbert, Arizona in 2015 upon his original release, but his immigration paperwork got halted in 2018 when he was picked up on an old detainer. Ibeabuchi’s situation is similar to that of middleweight Alfredo Angulo of Mexico, who wound up in ICE custody at the Ice Service Detention Center in El Centro, California, in 2012 for seven months due to issues with his immigration paperwork, which were eventually resolved. Ibeabuchi’s U.S. citizenship paperwork remains in time delay limbo, due to not being able to reach his citizenship interview after getting detained again. Ibeabuchi’s green card and citizenship paperwork will have to be resolved in the immediate future by ICE. Ibeabuchi has family in Arizona and Nigeria.
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